Last Wednesday, Governor Dayton delivered his state of the state address to the legislature. His budget proposal and priorities encompassed the 45-minute speech.
Here are some key topics he addressed:
Tax Cuts: He criticized the tax cuts of the late 1990’s as they didn’t grow the jobs promised and instead saddled the state with large deficits. He said real solutions have been postponed over and over and now the solution is even harder. He argued the state’s current tax structure is unfair as the middle class pays more state taxes as a percent of income than top earners.
Higher Ed: Among his budget priorities, he reiterated his support for higher education and went to great lengths to describe the retrenchment in funding the U of M and MnSCU have faced in the last decade.
Early Ed: He also said there is a huge need to expand kindergarten and early childhood programs to prepare students for learning. Noticeably absent in his comments was any mention of the traditional K-12 system.